Six locals complete Ironman

So what did you do with your weekend? Watch some college football? Eat some chili? Watch some NFL while eating some leftover chili?

Click away now to keep from feeling like a total slob. While you were sofa-surfing and exercising your remote-control finger, six local athletes were competing in the most grueling race imaginable.

The Myrtle Beach Triathlon Club closed its season with six members completing the Beach 2 Battleship Iron-distance race in Wilmington.

In what can best be described as a super-sized triathlon, competitors were required to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 and run a full marathon of 26.2 miles.

The swim started at Wrightsville Beach at 7:25 a.m. with temperatures in mid 40’s. As they finished their 2.4-mile ocean swim, they had to bike against a 15-20 mph head wind for most of the 112 miles in chilly conditions that included a mild drizzle drizzle of rain.

The last 40 miles of the bike ride had some signs of relief with a tailwind all the way back to the Battleship. The marathon section was two loops around a 13.1-mile course through Wilmington’s downtown riverfront street.

The running course feature two steep bridges and two small hills that left competitors understandably spent as they crossed the finish line around 12 hours after they started the race.